Miss. Supreme Court Fines Trial Judge $500; Says Failure to Disclose Asbestos Connections ‘Willful Misconduct’

JACKSON, Miss. –– The Mississippi Supreme Court has tacked an additional fine of $500 to a state commission’s recommendation regarding a judge who refused to recuse himself from an asbestos trial, despite having connections to asbestos litigation, saying Judge Eddie H. Bowen’s actions “compromised the integrity and independence of the judiciary.”

The high court’s Oct. 3 decision added a $500 fine to a committee’s recommendation that Judge Bowen be publicly reprimanded and assessed $200 in costs.

In May 2011, a Mississippi jury awarded $322 million in a case brought by Thomas Brown. Brown alleged that he developed asbestosis as …